Contributed Collaborative Post
A ‘his & hers’ bathroom allows two people to make use of the same bathroom space at the same time. It’s great for reducing waiting times, especially during the early morning rush.
A bathroom of this kind will usually include two separate sinks, placed side by side. However, the concept might extend further, with different parts of the room being devoted to different members of the household.
So, exactly how might you approach designing a space of this kind?
Planning the Layout
Your bathroom will need to accommodate two people, and the layout should reflect this. You can start with a kind of risk assessment: where are you likely to bump into one another, and can you rearrange the elements of your bathroom to reduce this likelihood?
Certain kinds of layouts tend to be very popular when it comes to his and hers bathroom styles. Among these is the ‘one-sided’ design, which sees the bathtub and sinks installed on the far wall, and the ‘long and narrow’ style, which showcases the shower and bathtub at opposite ends of the space with the sink in the middle.
If you can divide the room into distinct areas for each person, then you’re less likely to bump into one another. Shared facilities like bathtubs and showers can be placed outside of a clearly defined shared space in the middle.
Lighting
To feel comfortable and clean in the bathroom means being able to see everything. If the space feels dank or dingy, you’re unlikely to feel good while you’re in there. What’s more, you might have trouble keeping track of dirt and grime.
Ideally, you’ll want to incorporate a combination of ambient lighting from downlighters and task lighting from illuminated mirrors.
Choosing the Right Fixtures
The centrepiece for any his and hers bathroom space is the sink area. Since you have two sinks, you’ll want to think doubly hard about the sorts of hardware you’re installing. The sinks should match one another, or at least complement one another.
Double-ended, large bathtubs can be very interesting, and, if the space allows for it, you might also have a toilet in a separate room, so that one of you can brush their teeth while the other visits the loo.
Quality matters. Think not just about how fixtures look when they’re new, but how easy they’ll be to maintain. If water spots are showing up constantly, you might find yourself cleaning more often!
Storage Solutions
The more storage you have available in the bathroom, the less likely you are to run into clutter problems. Shelves, drawers and cabinets can all be very useful. If you have separate ‘his and hers’ storage, then you might optimise it to suit your needs.
Cabinets can be broken up and divided to make optimal use of the space. You can have neat little rows of soaps and shampoos in one cabinet, and racks of razors in the other, but from the outside the two will look the same.
Personalising the Space
Part of the appeal of this kind of bathroom is that it will provide you with a chance to get the space tailored to your needs and personality.
Think about how you’ll bring in contrasting colour schemes, tiles and fixtures to emphasise the duality of the concept, while still keeping the bathroom space clean and cohesive.
This is a contributed collaborative post
